Cards of the Soul
by Hiromaru413
Summary: Given unorthodox abilities through his encounter with a mysterious attacker, a new soul reaper and his companions will need to learn to master their powers in order to overcome the most dangerous obstacles they could possibly imagine. YGO is in here too.
1. Prologue

_**Cards of the Soul**_

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Hello everyone. My name is Hiromaru413, and I have decided to take a short break from beta-ing one of my friend's fanfictions and start writing one of my own. This story has been a work-in-progress in my imagination, and in the last week, it has been nagging me to actually write it. Thus, I have finally transferred the chicken-scratch manuscript to a neat, legible, typed-out work.

Even though this is my first work, I am excited about where this is gonna be going, especially since this is a Bleach–Yu-Gi-Oh! hybrid. I know that the prologue is long, and in truth, every chapter has the potential to be long. However, I feel that this is sufficient enough to give you, the readers, an insight as to what is to come, mainly a nice introduction to the main character, as well as another major character that is to be revealed at a later time.

I want to extend my thanks to Silver-Kitsune-Silvera for being my beta. I have been helping her with her latest fanfiction, Nature of Devotion (YGO 5D's FF), and now, she is helping me get my start here.

I do not own Bleach or YGO. I do, however, own any characters that you do not recognize (to be named later, I don't want to spoil you all  ).

And now, without further adieu, here is my first fanfiction! Enjoy!

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**Prologue****: **The Birth of a Hero

It was a rather quiet night in the city of Chesapeake; the street lights were dimmed, the full moon shone full of radiance in the clear night sky. This was the perfect night to catch some sleep, or even an overnight stroll in the streets.

However, a hollow's roar broke this magnificent, tranquil scene. Appearing in an alley, twice the size of a normal man with bone-white claws and a mask that resembled the face of a gargoyle, the fallen soul began to advance on what appeared to be the silhouette of a soul reaper, who was standing at the entrance into the alley. In response, the warrior muttered his zanpakutou's release chant as he drew his sword.

"Fuse your powers with me, Hiromaru, and set ablaze, Flame Wingman!"

The katana disappeared, and its wielder turned into someone that had a dragon head in the place of his right hand and a pure white wing that spread to his left side from his back. The hollow, out of astonishment, attempted to skewer this mysterious shinigami with his claws before he could make a move. This, however, was in vain, for the shinigami had already moved to a position between the monster's arms and its body, with the dragon's head blazing with a fierce fire in its mouth. The light the flame gave off revealed the soul reaper's new form; the red dragon head, green skin, and an oddly shaped head with no mouth and piercing red eyes. And, without even breaking a sweat, this bizarre-looking man jumped well above the hollow's head and unleashed a powerful blast of fire. Engulfed in the searing flames, the hollow eventually vanished, defeated.

Having accomplished his duty, the victorious shinigami landed on the ground. He began to return to his normal form, with his zanpakutou in his right hand. The long, mighty blade reflected the bright moonlight, revealing a hilt adorned with crossing blue and orange ribbons and no guard, as well as the sheath at his waist endowed with orange stripes that ran along the edges over a blue background. While sheathing his sword, he felt another soul reaper coming towards his location. 'Must be here to get that hollow I just killed,' the shady warrior thought, 'He'll find nothing here, not even a trace of me.'

When the incoming soul reaper arrived, there was a human walking away from the scene who emitted no spiritual pressure whatsoever. After shrugging, he left just as quickly as he came, believing that the human wouldn't see him to begin with. While leaving, he said in disappointment, "Must have been a fluke. The Research Bureau's really slipping these days."

Unbeknownst to him, the shinigami that killed the hollow in question was the human that was seen walking away. He was, in fact, occupying his gigai, trying to keep a low profile in the world of the living. "Even if I said anything to my comrade, he wouldn't have believed me," the warrior said out loud to himself, "I'm dead to the Soul Society and the 13 Court Guard Squads. They never even noticed my 'death' to begin with…on that day…about two years ago…"

His mind began to backtrack to that time when his squad, squad 11, held a training exercise in the human world, in Chesapeake. He was a new member of the squad, having only been a part of it for about a week in Soul Society time. During a drill, he remembered seeing a human biting the neck of another down below in an alley. Shortly after catching sight of the inhumane action, the attacker let go of his victim, left him for dead, and ran away from the scene as he approached the man to stop him. This struck the recruit as weird, for the attacker seemed to have noticed him, and soul reapers cannot be seen by humans.

The chase continued through the city until the attacker was trapped between a dead-end alleyway and the shinigami. Being a new recruit, the shinigami, with shaky arms, drew the standard issue zanpakutou that he was given upon his entrance into his squad. In response, the perpetrator of the earlier crime immediately jumped towards the nervous warrior, intent on claiming another life before the night was over. However, as the human came and bit into the right side of his victim's neck, the zanpakutou pierced his heart, put into that position instinctually by the defender. Since his hands were also in that position, the soul reaper pushed off his attacker, and performed a spin slash that left a large gash on the human's chest, killing him, but not without gushing out his life-blood onto the soul reaper. As the victorious shinigami examined the aftermath, he realized that not only did the blood get on the bite wound, but also on some large cuts that the attacker left on his right arm as he was pushed away. The blood seemed to even be seeping into the wounds themselves!

Shortly after he saw this, the soul reaper began to feel very weak, almost to the point of fainting. As he was walking out of the alley, he felt that his blood and that of the deranged human were fusing together. Experiencing huge surges of pain throughout his body, the shinigami collapsed, hitting a trash can on the street corner. Some of the blood, however, got onto some cards that fell out onto the ground from the trash can in front of the now fallen warrior. One of the face-up cards amongst them was named "Elemental Hero – Flame Wingman." He then saw all of the cards with blood on them and his zanpakutou glow with a blue light. When the light faded, the blood on the cards had disappeared, and the sword had took on its new form. Before the fallen shinigami lost consciousness, he saw a girl with long, red hair run up to him, kneel down next to him, and look into his brown eyes with ones of pretty blue sapphire.

Everything after that moment was lost to the blackness of his fainting at that moment, and the soul reaper returned to the present day. As he continued to walk towards his car in a nearby parking lot, he said aloud to himself:

"I still don't know who or what my attacker was, or how this even happened to me, but I must give thanks to him. Because he attacked me, I have received powers and abilities that transcend even Squad 12's rationale or comprehension. I had to adopt an English name in order to blend into the human world, for I know that I will not be allowed or accepted back into the Soul Society because I won't be recognized."

"Despite this more hollows will come, but the soul reapers of Soul Society will never get to them before me. It's not an opinion, it's a fact. My name is Eli, and my powers will keep this city safe!"

As he finished his monologue, a winged figure appeared on the arm of the streetlight that Eli just walked under. Each of the two wings was different, and the outline of what appeared to be Flame Wingman's right arm could be seen in the silhouette cast by the bright moonlight.

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Oh boy, I'm excited about where this is gonna go! I'll do my best to update this when possible. Summer's almost here, so I'll have a little more free time to make up new chapters. I do like reviews, however, so please say something about this. It'll help give me inspiration to keep writing. Also, more original characters are coming, including at least 4 additional soul reapers with pretty cool powers, as well as characters from Bleach that we all know and love!

Again, I want to thank Silver-Kitsune-Silver for being my beta and my FF mentor. If you would, please check out her own YGO 5D's fanfiction, Nature of Devotion, as well. It would be wonderful if you could leave a review there, for they also help give her inspiration to write.

Thanks for reading the prologue. I hope to see you all soon when the story itself gets underway within the next two weeks! And now, good night everyone!

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	2. Chapter 1

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Hey guys. I'm really impressed by how many people have actually viewed this ff, and I'm really excited about where I'm gonna take this. You've all met Eli Schrader, the main protagonist of this story and got a glimpse of a certain female character and winged figure, both to be revealed in this chapter.

Also, I've decided to take the liberty to start a large disclaimer/profile chapter, which shall be chapter 1 according to the system. This is to give a space to give the backgrounds of the characters I own as they show up, including Eli and the new female character. When a new character appears in a chapter, head on over to that page to see that character's profile. And, of course, it will have the disclaimer for the entire story.

*****NOTE: the aforementioned part is currently under construction. Should be up before the weekend's over*****

Also, because this has several aspects of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (TCG) in it, those that are not familiar with the game can check out the YGO wikia, www. yugioh. wikia. com (minus the spaces) for images, rules, etc.

Well, now the true story itself is about to get underway. I do not own Bleach or Yu-Gi-Oh, but I do own all of the characters that you don't recognize, including Eli, Hiromaru, and all of the others in this chapter. Enjoy Chapter 1!

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Chapter 1: The Descending Darkness

"I play Miracle Fusion, remove Sparkman and King of the Swamp from play from the Graveyard, and summon Shining Flare Wingman. I attack your Dark Armed Dragon with Shining Flare, and that's game."

A confident and excited Eli rose from the table card table after shaking his opponent's hand in the wake of a victory. He walked up to the store's manager to tell him the news. "Hey, Mr. Joey, put another win down for Eli Schrader. Since I have about twenty minutes before the next round starts, I'm gonna go get some food."

"Alright," the manager replied, "but hurry back so you can wash your hands. Don't wanna get grease all over those new cases, do you?"

"No sir. Be right back," was all Eli said as he walked out the door and quickly turned to head to a nearby McDonald's. However, as soon as he was a few feet out of the door, he felt the presence of a hollow in the shopping center. "Man, right when I was having a nice day at the tournament, a hollow had to sense my spiritual pressure…don't you hate it when this happens, Hiromaru?"

Suddenly, a human figure materialized behind Eli. Adorned with a different part of each of the Elemental Hero fusion monsters, this man, Hiromaru, responded, "Yes sir, it is always a pain when this happens. But, you have to understand that you'll always attract hollows, whether you like it or not."

"I know, I know," Eli said with a bit of agitation, "At least it's only small fry. Shouldn't take more than a minute to take care of."

"Then stop your babbling and take care of it so you can eat. You won't be able to fully concentrate on an empty stomach."

"Ain't that the truth. Let's go, Hiromaru!"

Eli then pops a Soul Candy pill into his mouth, causing him to turn into his soul reaper form while a temporary soul occupies his gigai. Before heading off to the hollow's location, he said to the gikongan, "Head over to the McDonald's just across the parking lot. There's $10 in my wallet. I want the 10 piece McNugget meal with a medium Coke, and, for the love of God, DON'T FORGET THE BARBEQUE SAUCE THIS TIME!" Then, the wind suddenly gusted in Eli's wake as he thrust himself towards his destination.

As he arrived at the scene, he saw the hollow's form: long plates on its arms that extended past the elbows, sturdy-looking legs, and a shell that was similar to a turtle's on its back. 'It appears to be a defensive type hollow, so I should use a power that can get through the defenses,' Eli thought to himself, analyzing the enemy. To his surprise, however, the hollow jumped up, getting right in front of him, and unleashed a powerful wind blast.

Before the attack hit him, Eli called out to his zanpakutou, "Fuse your powers with me, Hiromaru, and shield, Tempest! Hurricane Shield!" Taking on the appearance of Elemental Hero Tempest, a green egg-shaped shell surrounded him, protecting him from the hollow's attack.

"What?!" the hollow yelled in shock as he saw his attack get repelled.

"This is Tempest's ability, Hurricane Shield. It keeps me protected from attacks, especially weak ones such as yours," the shinigami told the fallen soul after disengaging the shield.

"Hmmm, very interesting. In all of my years of seeing you shinigami trying to kill me, I have never seen this kind of ability; not the shield, but the transformation, in addition to me not hearing two release phrases needed to use said power."

"Well, now you know that such a thing exists. And, unfortunately for you, today's the last day a shinigami _tries_ to kill you," Eli tells the hollow as he moves towards his foe.

"Not so fast!" the hollow shouted at his opponent. He then fired five wind blasts at some civilians down below, laughing maniacally as he did so. "Too bad your shield can't protect others, especially not those you are supposed to protect! So much for being a 'hero'!" The spots that the civilians were walking on exploded as the blasts hit their targets, leaving nothing but large clouds of debris. All that could be heard in the aftermath were screams from below and the hollow's laughter.

Surprisingly, as the dust cleared, all of the humans that were targeted were in shields that were identical to Eli's Hurricane Shield. This naturally led to the hollow becoming furious. "This can't be! You said the shield protects you, not anyone else!"

"Sorry, I'm still in my duelist mindset, and lying to my opponent's is one of the things I do while I think like this," Eli told his adversary as the shields on the civilians wore off. "All of my shikai powers are similar to those of the corresponding Elemental Hero fusion monsters' effects in the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game that people play here in the world of the living. Tempest's Hurricane Shield, for example, can be used to protect anyone or anything I so choose, and even several targets at once. But, in shikai, that number is limited to less than ten targets, including myself. And, since you only fired five shots, I was able to keep all of the citizens from getting hurt.

"Still, for a hollow, attacking civilians while engaged in a fight with a shinigami is really low, and for that, I shall end your miserable life quickly. Swords of Revealing Light!"

The hollow was then pierced at the torso by three swords that were made of light. "Now what are you up to?!" He struggled to move his limbs and even attempted to fire another wind blast at the shinigami, but to no avail. "I can't move! Is this some form of the Six Rods Prison of Light?"

"What it does is similar to that kido spell, but this spell is not related to the one you ask," Eli answered to his now trapped enemy. "In addition to attaining my zanpakutou's strange powers, after my encounter with a strange human, I can no longer use normal shinigami kido. Instead, I can manifest my spirit energy in the forms of the spells and traps from the same card game that my zanpakutou's powers are from. In the game, these swords stop my opponent from attacking for three turns, and likewise in your current predicament, you can't move. And, you won't have the chance to make another one; at least, not in this life!"

Eli then turned back into his normal self, with his sword drawn. He then proceeded to call out another power, "Destroy, Plasma Vice!"

Just as he did with Tempest, his appearance changed into that of Elemental Hero Plasma Vice; gold armor on his legs and hands, blue body armor with gold lightning bolt designs on it, very menacing to the frightened hollow as he saw his death approaching. Eli then gathered a large amount of electric energy into his hands, ready to unleash the finishing blow. "It's over! Plasma Shockwa-!"

"Shriek with the storm, Zereth! Spiral Twister!"

Out of nowhere, a dragon's head with a powerful spiral of wind following in its wake rushed towards the trapped hollow. Without hesitating, the head swallowed the hollow whole, and continued on in the same direction, killing him instantly. Eli then disengaged his shikai, and turned in the direction that the attack came from. "You know, I was about to kill that hollow," Eli said out loud. "Also, don't you think that was a little much, Heather Magner?"

A girl in a shinigami uniform then appeared near Eli. She had long, red hair, blue eyes, large chest, and was slightly taller than where Eli's shoulders were. "Come on, Eli!" Heather said while sheathing her zanpakutou. "You know that there isn't a lot of action on my college campus, and Zereth's been itching to bite someone's head off because of it."

"I must have been so caught up in the duels at the tournament that I forgot. You just got back, and I've been dealing with Hollows here when I came to tournaments since you haven't been here. Sorry about that," Eli said, blushing a tiny bit.

"It's ok. Just remember, you're not the only one who protects the city. Give Zer and me some monsters to fight once in a while, please. She would greatly appreciate it," Heather told her friend.

"Yes dear," Eli said, jokingly. "Hey, I sent a gikongan to get me some lunch, so I'm not expected back at the comic book store for a few more minutes. Since you're still learning how to play Yu-Gi-Oh, why not come by within the next ten minutes and watch me play?"

"Sure! I'll head back home and drive here as soon as I can," Heather said with enthusiasm. The two friends hugged, and Heather then left using a flash step.

"While she gets ready, I might as well go and see if the gikongan got barbeque sauce this time…how could a nice day like this turn into such a hassle?" Eli complained while sighing. "At least Heather will be there soon, so it's not so bad after all; gives me more inspiration to win." The shinigami then went down to where his gikongan-occupied gigai was walking, examining the bag upon landing for his beloved sauce. "YOU FORGOT AGAIN!!!" was his response after checking through the bag.

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Unbeknownst to anyone, two other shinigami were observing Eli and Heather from above, hiding behind some of the passing clouds. One was a bit of a tall, large man, about the same as Eli in size. The other was a tiny bit shorter, and more slimmed down than his companion. "So, is this the shinigami that our lord is so interested in?" asked the large figure.

"Your memory is terrible, you know that," said the other, sounding irritated. "Didn't you see his abilities: able to change forms, unorthodox kido spells, and a zanpakutou spirit with two different wings, a red dragon head for an arm and golden torso armor like the last form he took on; that's definitely him."

"Ha. I did notice that his shield was rather strong. But, unfortunately for him, my Funsairyuu will break through it, and crush his very bones in the process," the large shadow told his comrade with confidence.

"No need to get all fired up quite yet, you fool. We need to have our lord's permission before we even think about attacking him," the smaller said.

"Why not go after that girl he hugged, the other shinigami? They seem quite close, possibly boyfriend and girlfriend. If we take her hostage, he might come to us guns blazing, hoping to save her; making it all the easier to capture him!"

"You're too quick to make assumptions based on what you see. If they were truly in a relationship, wouldn't they have kissed and hugged instead of just the latter? And besides, even if that plan was guaranteed to work, that would be a disgrace to a warrior's honor; stooping so low as to take a girl hostage.

"Also, we don't know what else he's capable of. He could have been toying with his enemy or going all-out. We need to watch both our target and his friend more closely before we can do anything. Just, keep in mind one thing: if you go after the girl, our target, whether they're in a relationship or not, will definitely come after you and kill you before you can lift a finger, much less draw your sword."

"Fine…we'll ask our lord what he plans to do about this person. I just want to smash someone; it's been far too long since I HAD a challenge!"

"If you keep yelling and complaining, your little "plan" won't require taking his friend as a hostage and will happen much sooner than you want it to. Let's go."

"Alright…" After the large shadow said this, the two disappeared with simple flash steps without disturbing the clouds they were hiding behind.

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Walking back into the store where the tournament was held, Eli walked over to a clear table and began to eat his lunch. While doing so, he quickly told the manager something, "Hey, Mr. Joey! I invited a friend of mine to come and watch me play. I'm trying to teach her how to play, and I thought that having her come here would be a good way to see fast-paced dueling. That shouldn't be too much trouble, should it?"

"As long as she doesn't help you, it's fine with me," Joey said.

"Thanks a lot, man! Plus, it'll help give me more confidence to do really well today!" Eli responded with excitement.

"You're already 2-0 in the tournament. You don't need more inspiration to keep doing this well."

"If you were in my shoes, sir, you'd understand."

As the minutes passed by, Heather came into the store, and the third round of the tournament commenced shortly thereafter. Eli took his seat at the table, across from his opponent and with Heather standing behind him.

"Pay attention, Heather. This game's gonna go by much faster than our duels, and you'll see how good I really am," Eli told his friend.

"I'm excited to see how you really play. Do your best, Eli!" Heather responded. After a quick hug, the judge announced the start of the round. After a coin toss resulting in his declared side, Eli said he would take make the first move. After giving a handshake, the two players drew their starting hand.

"DUEL!"

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Wow, this is indeed a long chapter! This was a little tiring to write, to be fairly honest with you all, but I'm getting the hang of this.

Now, you have all met Heather Magner, a close friend of Eli's, as well as Hiromaru, the guy you got a glimpse of in the prologue, and two other shinigami that will make their appearances soon! Sorry for the many references to the YGO card game, but it'll become more Bleach than YGO in the next few chapters, I can assure you.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story as it unfolds! I'm very excited about where this is going to go and what's going to happen! I'll be out spanning Europe for about two weeks, and I hope to have the next chapter up shortly afterwards.

And again, thanks to Silver-Kitsune-Silvera for being my wonderful beta/ff mentor! Any and all questions about anything in this story can be asked to either her or me, and don't be afraid to ask.

Until my return, please review, and have a wonderful two weeks, everyone!

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	3. Chapter 2

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I wrote a chapter, but this summer was rather busy. For my readers in Spain, France, and England, thanks for letting me see your wonderful countries for two weeks! I loved it over there! However, things came up while I came back into the States that prevented me from writing, including the passing of a dear family member and seeing a close friend off to college again.

But now, I have the time to write out the second chapter to _Cards of the Soul_, entitled, "The Twist of Fate." In here, three new characters will be fully introduced, and the plot will thicken a bit. Hopefully the last few months haven't done too much on me. I also thank Silver-Kitsune-Silvera for being my beta and mentor. Please check out her fanfiction, _The Nature of Devotion_, a YGO 5D's ff, and leave a review.

I do not own Bleach or Yu-Gi-Oh!, but I do own all of the characters and things you don't recognize in here.

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Chapter 2: The Twist of Fate

"Wow, Heather! You keep getting better and better at dueling every time we play!" Eli said to his friend. "Soon, I won't have to hold back at all against you. You keep surprising me!"

Flattered and blushing, Heather responded, "Thanks! I still hate that Miracle Fusion card of yours, especially when bringing out Shining Flare Wingman."

"Hey, what can I say? He's my favorite E. Hero Fusion, and the most powerful out of the ones I use. And besides, you were able to destroy him back there."

"I know, but still, not easy."

"It'll become easier, and you'll get even better, I promise."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Walking out onto the porch of the house, the two friends looked up and saw a beautiful full moon. Eli began to sniffle a bit, and put his arm around Heather's shoulders.

"Come on, Eli, don't cry now," Heather told him. "Crying will make it hard to see while you're driving."

"Doesn't change the fact that you're leaving again for college…it's not easy, you know," Eli said before proceeding to give his best friend a big hug.

"It never is. But, it's not like we haven't been through this before," Heather said, hoping to cheer up Eli.

Eli took his head off Heather's shoulder, and then put his forehead on hers to look into her sapphire blue eyes, "Even so, I'm still gonna miss you, despite all of the work I'll have to do."

"I know, and I'll miss being home," Heather said to Eli. After a second, she smiled, looked into Eli's wood brown eyes, and told him, "But next year, you'll be coming with me!"

Cheered up, Eli smiled and responded, "Yup. That's what I'll be hoping for! Just gotta get through those exams and this year first."

"You'll succeed. I know you will."

Eli then went back to put his head on Heather's shoulder, squeezing his arms a little tighter around her torso. His friend did likewise around the back of his neck. "You're right, I should be going. The sooner I let go, the sooner I get to see you again."

"Yup. Besides, we still have a month to go, and we'll be talking between now and the next time we meet."

"Just trying to get myself ready for this again."

"We'll get through this. Next year will come quickly. Then we'll be off to college together."

"Yup." Eli got on his motorcycle and put his helmet on. "Gotta get home before it gets late. Talk to you tomorrow night!"

"Talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye."

"Bye."

After waving to each other, Eli rode off. As Heather watched her friend leave, Zereth appeared above her house. "Why does he have to get sappy every single time he's on his way out?" the large blue dragon asked her master.

"He cares about me, Zer, and it's part of his charm," Heather told her zanpakutou spirit. "Besides, in a year, he won't be like that because we'll be going to the same college. It'll make the distance between us almost non-existent."

"Crying over a few hours of distance…he just seems so…pathetic…for lack of a better word. Can't he use Hiromaru's power to fly over to you?" Zereth questioned.

"No, he told me Hiro won't let him use any power if it even has the slightest risk of them being revealed to normal humans outside of fighting Hollows. No matter how much he wants to see me, that's Hiro's rule," Heather answered. "And it's human to miss your best friend when they go away for a while."

"Oh fine…" At that moment, Zereth sniffed the air. "Eli drove away several minutes ago! Why do I still smell him?! Wait…there's someone else, too!"

"What?!" Heather responded, and she quickly ran inside.

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About a mile away, two shadows, one large and one slightly smaller, were watching the two friends from the rooftop of another house. "Our target should be far enough away by now. However, his friend just went right back into the house," the smaller shadow told the larger one. "It seems that she has detected us somehow."

"It doesn't matter to me," the other shadow responded. "Let's go fight! I'm itching to see what that guy can do."

"Your wish will soon be granted, let's go," the smaller shadow said.

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After using the Soul Reaper badge given to her by Eli, Heather phased through the wall of her room in her shinigami attire and stood in the air. "Zer, where did the smells come from?" she asked her dragon.

"They came from the west, deeper into the neighborhood," Zereth responded. "Wait, the scents are stronger now! They're closer!"

A man suddenly yelled out from a distance, "Break free, Funsairyuu!" A second later, a large shadow came straight at Heather, wielding what appeared to be a large blade with a hammerhead on the end.

Instinctively, the female shinigami started to release her zanpakutou, "Shriek with the storm, Zer-!" Before she could finish, upon the hammerhead's contact with it, the man shattered her sword with a mighty swing of his hammer-blade. The impact was so powerful that she was thrown onto the ground in the park across the street from her house, knocking her out instantly in a large cloud of dust and dirt while Zereth screamed in agony as she disappeared.

"Now," the smaller shadow said as he appeared next to the large shadow with a flash step, "all we have to do is wait. Our target will come in due time."

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"So, Hiro, do you think Heather's getting better at dueling?" Eli asked his companion, who was flying above him as the shinigami rode down the road on his motorcycle.

"It's hard to say considering you keep getting stupid draws," the warrior spirit responded.

"Ok, not my fault! I trust you to give me good cards, and you're giving me crap!" Eli snapped back.

"Who was the one that says that skill is in the duelist who uses the cards given to him?" Hiromaru wittingly asked.

"Me…but you knew FULL WELL I'm pulling my punches against her. If I blow her out of the water from the very beginning, I'm afraid that I'll hurt her self-esteem."

"True, but you need to get better as well."

"I know, but– Heather!" Eli said suddenly with shock in his voice.

"I felt that too. She's in trouble," Hiromaru told his master.

"Be ready for anything, Hiro!"

"Yes, sir!"

After that quick response, Eli made a quick U-turn at the closest intersection, and sped right back to his dear friend's house. 'Heather…why'd your spiritual pressure go haywire? It spiked, than vanished just as quickly! And more importantly, there are two others there, but why is one of them similar to mine?!"

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After parking his bike at a nearby middle school, Eli quickly popped a gikongan pill into his mouth. He told the substitute spirit to take his bike somewhere that wouldn't draw any suspicion from the local police, and he jumped into the air. He saw a cloud of dust and dirt settling in the park nearby, and quickly went to see what was in it.

"What?!?!" Eli cried out upon seeing Heather's body in the crater, beat up from the impact. "Fuse your powers with me, Hiromaru, and heal all wounds, Steam Healer!" Taking on the appearance of Elemental Hero Steam Healer, Eli began to heal Heather's injuries with reishi-filled steam.

"Looks like he did come, just as you said he would!" a voice proclaimed from a distance.

"Who said that?!" Eli yelled out in response.

"I did!" a large shadow yelled out to the shinigami. "Came rushing over here only to help your weak little friend, how pathetic! Her sword couldn't stand up to even my shikai!"

"So, you put her like this?!" Eli asked with rage. "Why are you here, and why did you do this?"

"It's all part of a trap!" the shadow said as he put his sword, which looked like a hammer of sorts, over his shoulders.

"Heather's not a part of this, leave her alone!"

"Ah, but you see, we needed bait to get to you…brother," a voice said from a distance.

"It can't be…!" Eli responded with shock.

Just then, a small shadow stepped out into the moonlight, revealing Eli's "brother", who looked almost exactly like him. "Long time, no see."

"What are you doing here, Ian?! Why did you do this?!" Eli asked angrily to his twin brother.

"I'll be the one asking questions," Ian said sternly. "How are you even alive? The Soul Society has you labeled as KIA, but yet, here you stand. What's more is that you have these strange powers!"

"Why do you care? I've been gone for years!" Eli yelled at his twin.

"I just wanted to see if it was true that my own twin was alive," Ian told his brother. "We're not here to arrest you. We just want to make a deal, and time is of the essence."

"A deal?!"

"Yes. You see, our master has developed a special 'interest' in your powers, and would like to study them. All we require from you is a blood sample, and then we'll be on our way."

"A blood sample?! You beat up my friend just for that?! And what do I get?!"

Ian then pulled out a vial with a yellow-green liquid inside from the inside of his robes. "My comrade there, with the hammer, destroyed your friend's zanpakutou. If you really want to heal her more quickly, you'll need this. It'll immediately reconstruct her zanpakutou. I'll give you this if you give us an equal amount of your blood."

"I've got a better idea," Eli said with a smile as he reverted back into his normal shinigami form. "We don't I beat YOU up, take that, get Heather out of here, and you get NO sample from me!

"Shine through the darkness, Shining Flare Wingman!"

A large burst of light came from Eli's sword, blinding the two attackers. "What is this?!" Ian yelled out from inside the light. As it faded a few second later, they realized that their target had disappeared, as did his friend. "Where'd he go?" the larger man asked.

"I'M UP HERE!" Eli's voice yelled from above. The two shinigami looked up and saw their target's shadow, now taking on the form of what appears to be an angel, in front of the full moon, holding his dear friend in his arms close to him. He had on silver-colored armor with gold linings over green skin, radiating a light similar to that of the moon. "You've gone and done it now! You'll feel my wrath through my most powerful form!"

Using a flash step, he quickly, but gently, laid Heather down on the rooftop of her house. 'I'll heal you, I promise,' Eli thought, making an oath to himself. He then used another flash step to get to a better position to fight his brother. "I hope you're happy to see me alive, Ian, because this'll be the last time you see anything!" The warrior-angel then appeared right before his twin, releasing a powerful punch that sent his brother flying high into the night sky.

Fortunately for Eli, the vial with the healing salve was dropped because of the impact, and was falling towards the ground. 'Better save that! Dimensionhole!' The vial was then sucked up into a small wormhole that appeared before it hit the ground. 'That will only last for so long. At least I kept it from shattering. Now to take care of the real matter.'

However, the larger man suddenly came out of nowhere, and was ready to hit the shinigami with his zanpakutou. Not being one to leave himself open, Eli quickly dodged the attack, and kicked the assailant square in the stomach, sending him downward into the street below.

Like his partner, Ian then appeared, sword drawn, and attempted to attack his twin. Eli blocked it with his right arm armor and pushed his opponent away. "You're mine! Threatening Roar!" The soul reaper then released a powerful animalistic roar that threw Ian back quite a distance. "I'm not done! Shadow Spell!" Black chains then emerged from holes in the air and bound all of the target's limbs, leaving him suspended in the air at Eli's mercy.

"Any last words, brother?" Eli asked his hostage as he gathered all of his energy into his right forearm.

"Even if I said anything, they wouldn't be my last words," Ian responded with a grin, pointing to someone behind his captor.

It was then that Heather began to regain consciousness. But, much to her surprise, she saw another person quickly approaching Eli from behind, sword positioned to impale the shinigami. He had pale skin, copper-colored hair, and very dark amethyst eyes. "ELI, BEHIND YOU!!!"

Eli turned his head and saw the new enemy out of the corner of his eye. But by then, he was too close, and he ran Eli through in the stomach with his zanpakutou. "I believe these are the last words that you will ever hear," said the assassin with a cold, heart-wrenching voice. "Show your quills, Yama Arashi!" Upon saying that, seven blades shot out of Eli's body, covered in the warrior's blood.

"Damn…it…" were Eli's last words as his head fell forward. The chains binding Ian shattered, and Eli's angel-like form disintegrated to reveal the shinigami's mutilated body, blood pouring out from his deadly wounds.

"ELIII!" is all Heather could shout out before she lost consciousness, out of the horror of seeing her friend murdered right before her eyes.

The pale enemy resealed his sword, and pulled it out of his victim, leaving the body to fall down to the ground. "Don't you think that was a little over-kill, Quiruthan Shanuko?" Ian asked.

"Not at all," Quiruthan replied. Standing next to his companion, Quiruthan's nose was about where Ian's shoulders were. He continued, "The orders were to kill him if necessary. He was about to kill you, so I stepped in, according to the plan, and killed him."

"You're so cold. It makes me wonder if you have any feelings at all," the large shadow said as he joined his comrades.

"This coming from the guy that got himself beat up with one fell kick," Ian said. "You are the opposite, you get very cocky, Kajiya Kanazuchi." The moonlight showed the large man's form. He stood about a head taller than Ian, had tan skin and a heavyset figure, crimson red eyes, and black hair.

"My bad," Kajiya said. "By the way, that girlfriend of his was still alive. Can I kill her?"

"No," Quiruthan said. "We did not get orders to kill anyone except our target. She is not a target, so leave her alone. She'll be in enough pain if we leave her alive with her best friend dead."

"Are we done?" Ian questioned. "We got what we needed, so we can leave now."

"Yes sir!" his two subordinates responded.

"Where do you think you're going?! Getsuga Tenshou!" A blue shockwave of energy came right towards the trio, but Kajiya knocked it away with his Funsairyuu.

"Who can it be now?!" the large man asked angrily.

"Dance, Sode no Shiayuki! Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" A black-haired woman appeared below the three men, wielding a white sword, and a white circle appeared beneath her. She jumped out of the circle, and suddenly, a large tower of light shot up, sealing everything that was caught in its way. When the light faded, the tower was nothing but solid ice. A few seconds later, it shattered.

"If I didn't know any better, all three of us would have been dead," Ian said out loud from the other side of the tower. "But, alas, we'll have to fight another day, Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki!" The three men then disappeared in an instant, using flash steps.

"Get back here!" Ichigo yelled after using a flash step. 'Who were those guys, and what were they attacking?"

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted from below. "There's an injured girl over here! She looks like a shinigami!"

"Ok," the substitute responded. "I see the guy that was killed by one of the enemies. We'll take them back to the hotel with us. Orihime will know how to fix them up."

"That…won't…be…necessary," Eli stuttered as he rose from where he landed. His wounds have disappeared, despite still being covered in his own blood.

"What the hell?" Ichigo asked, stunned by the shinigami's rising. "There's no way anyone could have survived an attack like that! How are you alive, and where are your injuries?!"

"I'm sure you have…a lot of questions…," Eli responded, panting as he did so. "About who I am…my powers…I can explain…everything later…"

"Let's get you some help first," Rukia said as she carried Heather on her back.

"First, let me help…my friend. Can you…lay her down, please?"

"Sure." Rukia put the injured girl on the ground. Just then, a small wormhole appeared right above Eli, and the vial with the healing medicine came down and landed on his hand.

Eli explained their situation to the recently arrived pair, no longer breathing heavily. "Her zanpakutou was broken by one of our attackers. I was offered this 'medicine' in exchange for a sample of my blood, but, as you can see, they got more than what they needed. I just took this from their leader when I had the chance." He then opened Heather's mouth, opened the vial, and poured in the medicine. However, much to their disappointment, the medicine turned out to be ineffective, as her zanpakutou did not regenerate. "That bastard! He tricked me!" Eli slammed his fist into the ground, and began to cry a little.

Rukia then crouched down in front of him, saying soothingly, "Hey, we have a friend who can heal her. Come with us, and we'll have her look over you two and heal both of your injuries."

"Ok," Eli said. "By the way, my name's Eli Schrader, and my friend here is Heather Magner."

"Nice to meet you," Ichigo chimed in. "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and this is Rukia Kuchiki. Sorry we couldn't meet you outside of such a battle."

"It's ok, Ichigo," Eli said. "Let's get a move on. Heather needs your friend's help, and fast."

"That's right," Rukia agreed. "If she stays like this, it can get really bad for her. We have to go now."

"I'll carry Heather," Eli told his two new companions while putting his friend on his back. "Your place isn't far, is it?"

"No, it's not," Ichigo responded. "Just don't bring your gigais, though. We're staying in a hotel. We can explain that after Heather is healed."

"Very well. Lead the way, Ichigo and Rukia." And with that, the group left with flash steps: Ichigo and Rukia leading the way, and Eli carrying Heather.

'Hang in there, Heather…please…just hang in there a little longer…'

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Wow! This was a very long chapter indeed! Now the plot really deepens! Hopefully the next chapter will come to me soon so I don't leave you all hanging!

I wish to thank Silver-Kitsune-Silvera again for not only being my beta, but helping me with character designs (despite that one ended up turning into eye candy for her…T_T).

Anyways, until next chapter, take care, and please leave reviews!


	4. Chapter 3

Hello again, everyone. I am, for those that read my series, very, very sorry that I haven't posted a new chapter in…6 months? Oh well, as the old saying goes, better late than never, right?

Anyways, I do hope that this chapter will help clear up some potential gaps that may have occurred in the last chapter, especially with how Eli survived such a horrific attack that should have killed him. Also, we get introduced to the rest of Ichigo's crew and all of the background information is filled in. Lastly, the shadows grow deeper as the evil intentions behind the perplexing attack are revealed.

I want to thank my beta, now named Lady Silvera Wolfe, for supporting and nagging me about writing this chapter, as well as beta-ing her chapters for _Nature of Devotion_. Please check it out when you can, if you are interested. It is a Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's ff.

I do not own Bleach or Yu-Gi-Oh!, but I do own the characters, story, and other aspects that you don't recognize. (FYI: '' = thinking, "" = speaking)

Chapter 3: New Allies and Darker Shadows

Following the strangers that appeared at the end of his fight, Eli carried Heather, heavily injured from the encounter, in his arms. 'I can't believe there were zanpakutou capable of doing so much damage,' he thought. 'I know this isn't the last time we'll see those three. What's worse…Ian…what happened to you…who are you working for?'

"We're here!" the orange-haired Ichigo yelled out before the group stopped in front of the hotel room's window. He knocked on the pane and called inside, "Hey, Uryu, it's us! We need Orihime to heal someone!"

"Get in here, Kurosaki," Uryu responded, opening the window for the warrior party. After stepping in, Eli took a look around at the room and the people in it. The man who opened the window, Uryu, had a slender figure with a scholarly look about him. The long black hair, accompanied by the stern eyes behind the glasses, gave the soul reaper the impression of a no-nonsense teenager.

There was another man in the room, one who was much bigger than the Uryu character, but he was out the door before Eli could get a good look at him. "Eli, lay your friend down on the bed. Uryu sent Chad to get Orihime from the other room," informed Ichigo.

"I hope this Orihime friend of yours can heal her," Eli responded.

"She will," Rukia said. "She has an incredible power. Your friend will be good as new in no time."

"Please understand. Heather's all I have in this world, my only companion. I can't lose her," Eli told them, trying to hide his sadness and worry. "Let's spare stories until she's healed. Then, we can sit down and talk."

Just then, the door opened and the man from earlier came in with a girl. The man had a muscular, yet gentle appearance, much like Eli himself. He has tan skin, a tall body, and shaggy, black hair that covered his eyes. 'So that's Chad,' Eli thought to himself. 'Then, this girl must be Orihime.' She was shorter than Chad, but taller Rukia. This girl, however, reminded Eli of Heather in almost every way physically: rather slender build, large breasts, long, red hair, which had two flower-shaped hairpins, and white skin. The soul reaper blushed, but looked away quickly to hide his now-rosy cheeks.

Unfortunately, Orihime approached him and asked, "Is this your friend here, on the bed?" to which he responded with a shaky "Yes".

The group gathered around the bed that Heather was lying on. Orihime touched her hairpins, chanting, "Souten Kisshun, I reject." Suddenly, to Eli's surprise, two orange lights shot out from the girl's hairpins, one from each, met right above Heather's stomach, and spread out to create a thin orange barrier over his dear friend. Then, right before his eyes, the injuries she sustained healed in a matter of seconds, and even her broken zanpakutou was repaired. Within two minutes of being healed, Heather shuddered a little and slowly opened her eyes, showing that she regained consciousness. "Where am I? Am I alive?" she asked, still dazed.

"Please don't move," Orihime requested of the female shinigami. "You are alive, and I've almost healed all of your wounds."

"Ok, and thanks, whoever you are," Heather responded.

After a few more minutes, Orihime recalled the barrier, and the two lights returned to her hairpins. As Heather sat up in the bed, her eyesight became clear, and she saw Eli, alive and well, sitting next to her. Tears welling in her eyes, she gave her beloved friend a big hug. "Eli! I thought you died! Thank God you're alive!" she exclaimed as she cried on his shoulder.

"And I thank God you're alive too, Heather. I'm alright," Eli assured his friend.

"How did you do it?" she asked, looking into his eyes, confused about how he could have survived such an attack.

"That's what we'd like to know, too," Ichigo interjected. "Those were some nasty wounds I saw on you, and yet you recovered from them without a scratch, minus the blood on your uniform."

"I will explain everything," Eli told the teen, "But first, let's all get comfortable and try to make sense of what's going on around here."

"Good idea," Rukia said. "Ichigo, I'll get into my gigai, you get back into your body, and let's get some water. I'm sure we're all a bit thirsty."

"Thank you," Eli and Heather said in tandem.

"You're welcome."

After everyone was settled in their bodies, minus Eli and Heather, and had a bottle of water to drink, they all took a place in the room. Eli and Heather were still on the same bed, now holding each others' hands, and Rukia sat down at the end of the bed. Orihime and Chad sat next to each other on the other bed, Uryu stood in the passageway leading to the door, and Ichigo sat backwards in a chair between the ends of the two beds.

"Let's start with names before we move on to stories," Eli suggested. "My name is Eli Schrader."

Heather was the next to go. "Heather Magner."

Afterwards, everyone introduced themselves in a circle.

"Orihime Inoue."

"Yatsutora Sado, or Chad."

"Uryu Ishida."

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

"And I'm Rukia Kuchiki."

"Nice to meet you all," Eli said.

"Likewise," Ichigo replied. "Now, first things first. How did you survive that attack? Your wounds were definitely fatal."

"I can explain," Eli began. "I have abilities that are unheard of by you normal shinigami, so it's only natural that you are curious. My powers are related to a card game that humans play in the real world called "Yu-Gi-Oh!". I can call upon monsters and use the spell and trap cards like kidou spells. Unfortunately, I can no longer use the kidou that you know, not even a simple bakudo spell. However, these abilities are more than enough to compensate. Also, my zanpakutou, Hiromaru, is directly linked to the deck that I use while I hide amongst the population, an Elemental Hero deck. I have the closest bonds to these cards because of the incident that gave me these powers.

"About two human-world years ago, I was on a training mission with my former squad, squad 11, here in the human world, not too far from here. At one point, I noticed a deranged human attacking other humans, so I separated from my group and went after it. I managed to corner and kill him, but not without suffering injuries. I don't know how it could see me, but it did and attacked with the intent to kill. Some of his blood got into my wounds, and I started to feel sick, eventually losing consciousness. As I fell over, I knocked over a trash can and some of my blood got on some of the cards that spilled out, which were the Elemental Hero cards that I use now. Heather here came and helped me, taking me back to her house and helped me get better."

"Slow down," Rukia interrupted. "Heather, how could you have seen him? He was a spirit."

Heather responded, "I traveled a lot because my father was in the navy. I could have been near someone with high spiritual energy before the night I met Eli. Before then, however, I could barely see spirits, but I knew they existed. Eli was the first spirit I could actually see and hear clearly. It's possible that his fluctuating spiritual pressure pushed my own spiritual powers to the point that I could see him."

"That is a very valid conclusion, and her prolonged exposure to Eli's spiritual pressure since then could have allowed her abilities to grow, eventually allowing her to unlock her own shinigami powers," Uryu chimed in, arms crossed over his chest.

"Impressive, you are as analytical as you look," Eli said in response to Uryu's statement. "I can also say the same for you and your friends. I can sense that all of you have spiritual powers. I know that Ichigo and Rukia are shinigami, but I'm not familiar with you, Orihime, and Chad. I'm pretty sure you all got your powers from being around Ichigo."

"Eli, I am a Quincy, I was born with my powers!" Uryu said, irritated. "And you're one to talk about 'strange powers'."

"Uryu, enough!" Rukia barked at the Quincy. "I apologize for his behavior, he's not exactly fond of shinigami or strangers. Your powers are strange Eli, but you can show us how they work later. However, you still haven't told us how you survived that attack."

"I'm sorry, I shall continue," Eli responded. "When I released the shikai power of my most powerful form, Shining Flare Wingman, a lot of dust was kicked up, creating a smoke bomb-like effect. While I could sense a third shinigami, I was more concerned with the powers of the one that inflicted the damage to Heather, which you healed. I had to think of a way to protect myself and act upon that decision quickly while my enemies could not see me.

"I decided to summon a monster that could bond to me and protect me, a metallizing parasite called Lunatite. However, because he was a powerful monster, I needed to use a spell to make it easier to summon him. I used a spell called Star Blast, which cost me some of my spiritual energy, but that energy acted as a catalyst and allowed me to summon the parasite. I then had him bond to me, with him taking cover under my armor, thus hiding him from my enemy's sight. That entire process took about 10 seconds, after which I picked up Heather and flew up in front of the moon to give the parasite enough time to completely bond to me. Luckily, the bonding was successful.

"The shinigami that delivered the 'killing' blow was the third man I sensed, and fortunately, none of the three of them sensed what I or the parasite did. After I fell to the ground, the parasite gave its life to revitalize my own and healing my injuries in the process."

"That makes sense," Ichigo commented. "Whatever the case, what you chose to do paid off, and now we can focus on what to do next. Do you know who they were, the people that attacked you?"

"The only one I know out of the three of them, my brother from Soul Society, Ian," Eli answered. "I don't know why he attacked me, but he's working for someone…someone who was after my blood."

"And it's highly possible that the human that Eli encountered was a Bount," Uryu said out loud.

"A Bount?" Eli and Heather asked together. Eli continued, "What the hell is that?"

Rukia answered the two guests "The Bounts were the results of an experiment in the Soul Society that went wrong under Ran'Tao. They were immortal humans, and behaved in a manner similar to the vampires of human folklore. They absorbed human souls, normally ones that were already dead. However, some time ago there were reports of living humans being attacked, and the Bounts were behind it. It was against their ethics to do so, but their leader, Kariya, convinced those who followed him to consume human souls. Doing so increased their powers exponentially.

"The Soul Reapers committed unspeakable acts against the Bounts, notably exiling and massacring them. Some still survived, and they led an attack in both Japan and the Soul Society in order to exact their revenge on the shinigami. We were able to stop the attack, but not without casualties. It is likely that this was a Bount that did not join with the ones that we faced."

"Enough of the history lesson," Eli interrupted. "What do they have to do with me?"

"Your powers are somehow similar that those of the Bounts. The sheer fact that your powers are connected to material objects is proof of that. Their powers came from what were called dolls, which were like zanpakutou, but with slight differences. They were their user's powers manifested in a physical form, and usually their sealed form had something to do with their power. Your powers are based around material objects, these cards of yours, yet overall, they are manifested through your zanpakutou spirit, Hiromaru."

"So you're suggesting I have the powers of both shinigami and Bounts? It seems a little far-fetched."

"We can't give you the answers now," Rukia said, reaching out to hold onto Eli's knee, "but we know of someone who can help you find any answers you need."

"You're in luck, you two!" Orihime interjected. "Our plane home leaves tomorrow. I believe that Urahara might be able to help Eli figure out who attacked him and gave him his powers. Maybe he can help us determine what the mastermind behind this is after."

"I agree," Chad said. "If we stay here, more people can get hurt. I'm certain that whoever this Ian is will attack again."

"Looks like we can only offer you two options, Eli," Uryu said, still leaning back with crossed arms. "You can either stay here, risk the lives of the citizens, and be left with the questions you have, or come with us, reduce the risk to the civilians, and finally get some answers."

Heather then wrapped her arms tightly around Eli's left arm. "Wait! If he goes, I go too!" she told the group. She had a determined look on her face, one that gave everyone the message that they could not change her mind.

"You do understand how dangerous this can be, don't you Heather?" Rukia asked the girl.

"I don't, but I do not fear it at all," Heather told the shinigami. "I've helped Eli through his time here in the human world from the very moment I found him. We've been friends for a few years, but we've been through a lot. From protecting this city to helping each other through our own personal lives, we've been there for each other. He's helped me unlock my own shinigami powers. Now, it's time I help him unlock the secrets to the mysteries behind this attack and his own powers."

"It's settled then," Ichigo said out loud. "We'll see if we can get you two seats for the flight tomorrow. We'll take care of everything, and you can pay us back later. It's getting really late, so I think you two should go home and get some rest."

"Agreed," Eli said. "It's been a long day, and it was a lot of information to give and take in."

"We can escort you two back to your houses, if you want," Rukia offered the two friends.

"We appreciate it," Heather told the black-haired shinigami.

"Well," Ichigo interjected as he used his Soul Reaper badge to separate from his body, "might as well be on our way." He opened the window and stepped outside. Rukia used a gikongan pill and she went into her shinigami form as well. Eli helped Heather out of the bed, now that she's able to walk again, and assisted her out of the window. "It was nice meeting you all," Eli said to the Orihime, Chad, and Uryu.

"Likewise!" Orihime exclaimed. "See you two tomorrow!"

"Take care," Chad told the two friends.

"And don't be late tomorrow!" Uryu yelled at the four shinigami.

"We won't be," Eli promised. After saying that, the four warriors flew back in the direction of Heather's house, the light of the still-present full moon guiding there path.

"Nicely done, my servant," a deep voice spoke out from the poorly-lighted room. "This will be more than enough blood for me to draw conclusions on my experiment, as well as run more."

"I accomplished my end of the bargain," Ian told the source of the voice, "now when can I expect you to uphold yours?"

"All in due time. I'll give you new powers soon enough. Your brother made a perfect test subject, but I did not appreciate him killing off the one Bount I had. However, what's done is done, and with him out of the picture, no one can stand in my way! Soon, I will be able to overthrow the Soul Society; returning the favor for what they did to me," the voice told the shinigami, releasing an inhumane laughter as he did so.

Wow, that's one long chapter! Took a long time to write this one, but now it's finished for your reading pleasure. I'm sorry if this leaves more confusion than answers, but I will answer any of your questions in upcoming chapters. I hope that with the new semester I will have more time to think about the next chapters.

If you have any questions, please do leave a PM or a reply. If you are curious about anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh!, for those not familiar with the game, head on over to the wikia, (www)..com.

Lastly, I want to thank my beta again, Lady Silvera Wolfe, for bearing with me until I wrote this chapter, and for nagging me to no end until I did so.

That's all I have for you all. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will have the next one up within 1 (I repeat, ONE) month this time. Until then, take care!


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